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SCARLET IBIS. 



Ibis rubra, Vieill. 



PLATE CCCXCVII. Adult Male axd Young. 



It was supposed by Wilson, and since his time by others, that this 

 brilliantly coloured Ibis is not uncommon in the southern parts of the 

 United States. This opinion however is quite erroneous, and I have 

 found the Scarlet Ibis less numerous than even the Glossy Ibis ; indeed 

 I have not met with more than three individuals in a state of liberty, in 

 the whole range of the United States. These birds occurred at Bayou 

 Sara, in Louisiana, on the 3d of July 1821, They were travelling in 

 a line, in the manner of the White Ibis, above the tops of the trees. 

 Although I had only a glimpse of them, I saw them sufficiently well 

 to be assured of their belonging to the present species, and therefore I 

 have thought it proper to introduce it into our Fauna. Wilson's figure, 

 I believe, was taken from a living specimen, not however procured with- 

 in the limits of the United States, and which was kept for some time 

 in Peale's Museum in Philadelphia. My drawing of the adult male, 

 and that of the immature bird, were made from specimens also procured 

 beyond our limits. It is said that the habits of this bird are very si- 

 milar to those of the White Ibis, of which I have given you a long ac- 

 count ; but, as I have not had opportunities of observing them, I judge 

 it better to abstain from offering any remarks on this subject. 



Tantalus auBEH, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 241. — Lath. Ind. Omith. vol ii. p. 703. 

 Scarlet Ibis, Tantalus rubee, WUs. Amer. Omith. vol. viii. p. 41, pi. 66, fig. 2. 

 Ibis rubra, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 311. 

 Scarlet Ibis, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 84. • 



Adult Male. Plate CCCXCVII, Fig. 1. 



Bill very long, slender unless at the base, deeper than broad, com- 

 pressed, tapering, arcuate, obtuse at the tip. Upper mandible with 

 the dorsal line arched in its whole length, the ridge convex, broader to- 

 ward the end, the sides at the base nearly erect, towards the end very 

 convex and narrow, the ridge separated in its whole length from the 



